I'm Here
by ouatluver1942
Summary: A.U. 14 year old Emma Swan ran away from her foster home and ended up in no other place but Storybrook. I'm sorry for the bad summary. The story will mainly focus on Emma and Mary Margaret and the curse will break eventually.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so this is my first fanfiction on here so I hope that you like it. Also I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar errors because I really suck at spelling and pretty much anything I that has to do with English & Language Arts. Sorry.**

**Also please review I would love to hear what you think of the story. I don't mind negativity so just give me your honest opinion.**

**Oh and the first few chapters are going to be sort of slow mainly because I there to be a strong base for the story. **

**Thanks and hope you enjoy it.**

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Chapter 1

Graham was doing his normal nightly rounds near the town line. There was a terrible storm out and he wanted to hurry up and finish them before it got any worst. He was just about to head back into town when he saw a figure walking along the tree line of the woods. He pulls up beside them and rolls down the passenger window.

"Hey do you need any help?" He asks.

"No." Was the reply he got, and from the sound of it, the voice was a young girl. He didn't recognize the voice and was sure that she wasn't from Storybrook.

He kept alongside her going no faster than two mph. Suddenly she stopped walking and faced the police car bending down so she could see inside the window. "Are you just going to keep following me?" She asked in an annoyed tone.

"I'm just trying to make sure you're okay."

"Well I don't need any help, okay? I'm just passing through." She said more annoyed now then what she was only seconds ago.

"Look at least let me give you a ride into town and get you out of this rain." He says nodding his head towards the door handle.

She looks at him hesitantly for a moment before saying. "I think I'll just walk." But as she says the last word there is a flash of lightning accompanied by a loud crack of thunder which causes the girl to jump and makes her voice tremble, while a nervous look crosses her face only for a second.

Graham notices the look and offers again to drive her into town. Only this time she agrees and gets in the car quickly while Graham rolls up the window. The girl places her backpack down in between her legs and the door and takes off the hood of her jacket. And an awkward silence starts to set in.

"So" Graham says after a few moments. "What's your name, kid?" The girl glances at him and simply goes back to looking out the window without saying a word. "Okay… well I'm Graham by the way, I'm Storybrook's sheriff."

At this the girl rolls her eyes. "Really, I never would have guessed seeing as how you're driving a car with a light bar and the word 'sheriff' painted on it." She says sarcastically without ever adverting her gaze from all the darkness out the window.

Graham just shrugs it off because he saw that one coming as soon as he had said it. "So what are you doing out here this late at night in the middle of a thunder storm?" He asks trying to start up a conversation, but she just ignores him and continues to look out the window.

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The rest of the car ride to the sheriff station was silent. Graham had realized that he wouldn't get anything out of the girl other than sarcastic remarks to something he said. But now that they were pulling into Graham's parking space outside the station he was now faced with the task of finding her somewhere to stay until they find out who she is and where she came from. He didn't want to just sick her in the inn because he didn't want her running off during the night or early morning. He wanted to make sure she got back where she belongs or at least with the people who are responsible for her. "Well here we are. I'll have to keep you here until I find you somewhere to stay until I get you back where you are supposed to be."

"I said I was just passing through." She fired back.

Graham sighed "Well I'm sorry but you can't be no more than 15 years old, I don't want you getting hurt without me trying to get you back to where you belong. Okay?"

"I'm 18. You can't keep me here."

"Well if that's the case just let me see your ID and you can go." Graham said with a pointed look. With a sigh the girl lets her head fall back onto the head rest. "That's what I thought."

They both get out of the car and walk into the station. Graham instructs her to sit in one of the empty chairs while he goes into his office to make a call. He shuts the glass door behind him and sits down at his desk and looks at his wristwatch that tells him it is a quarter after 1 in the morning. _Who can I call?_ Graham thinks to himself. He didn't want to call Regina because…well she's just not really a kid-person. Let alone a teenager.

So he ended up calling the only person that he could think of that would possibly say yes.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice answers.

"Mary Margaret? It's Graham, sorry to wake you but I have a favor to ask of you."

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**Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it.**

**Please review and tell me what you think. Like I said I don't mind negativity. **

**Thanks again for reading and I will be posting another chapter soon. Thanks Bye:) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay guys here is chapter 2. And thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites.**

**I hope you like this chapter. Also I hope everyone had a good Labor Day yesterday. **

**Again thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

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Chapter 2

Mary Margaret woke to the sound of her phone ringing. "Hello?" She answered sleepily.

"Mary Margaret? It's Graham, sorry to wake you but I have a favor to ask of you."

"Uh… yeah sure what is it?" She says through a yawn.

There was a short silence before Graham speaks again. "Well you see while I was out on my rounds near the town line I found a teenage girl and she's not from Storybrook and I was hoping you could look after her until I find out where she is from and who her parents are." He says in a bit of a rush.

"Oh my, is she hurt or anything?" She asks.

"Well I don't think so, but she may get a bit sick seeing as how she was walking around in the rain for god knows how long."

With this Mary Margaret starts getting up to get dressed. "Oh, the poor thing. Don't worry I'll take her."

"Thank you so much Mary Margaret, you're a life saver."

"You're welcome. So what's her name?" She asks grabbing her car keys.

"Um… well she hasn't told me that or how old she is. But I don't think she's more than 15."

"Alright well I will be there in a few minutes." She says nearly drowned out by a loud clap of thunder.

"Great, well I'll see you in a few. Bye."

"Bye."

Hanging up the phone she climbs into the driver's seat and starting the ignition. As she starts down the street to the police station all she can think of is why on earth would there be a child no older than 15 years old wondering around in the middle of the night during a horrible thunder storm. She could only hope that the girl wouldn't get sick from walking around in the rain.

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As she pulls up in front of the station there's another flash of lighting and a low rumble of thunder. Mary Margaret isn't really afraid of storms but she's never really liked them either. She opens her door just to get a face full of cool wind and rain. She quickly runs up to the door of the station and pushes it open.

Once inside she walks to Graham's office. She notices the young girl sitting in one of the empty chairs. Her damp blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail. Her light blue jacket was still pretty wet. Mary Margaret was sure she was soaked to the bone. Mary Margaret gives her a kind smile as she walks into Graham's office.

"Ah, Mary Margaret thanks for coming." Graham says standing up to greet her.

"You're welcome."

They both walk out of the office and over to the girl who stands up as they approach. "Well this is Mary Margaret; you will be staying with her until I can find out where you need to go." Graham informs her.

"Hello it's really nice to meet you." Mary Margaret says with the same kind smile as before.

"Hi." Is the only thing she says to her as she picks up her backpack and slings it over one shoulder and starts walking towards the door.

"Well I'll call you tomorrow Mary Margaret. And if you can find out her name so I can find out who she is." Graham says once the girl is out of earshot.

"Graham I don't think she's dangerous, she's just a child." Mary Margaret says looking at the girl walking down the hall.

"I'm not saying she is, but we do need to find out where she is from so that we can get her back where she belongs." He says looking down at Mary Margaret.

Mary Margaret looks up at him with a somewhat worried expression. "What if she left where she's from for a reason? What if she doesn't have a place to go back to?"

"Well then I will contact the proper authorities so she can get somewhere with people who can help her." He reassures her. "I won't send her back somewhere she will get abused in any type of way."

Mary Margaret nods "Well I best be going to get her home. She's probably exhausted. Bye Graham."

"Bye Mary Margaret." Graham says walking back into his office to finish up some paperwork that he has been putting off.

When Mary Margaret gets outside she sees the girl already sitting in the passenger seat in her car. She quickly walks over to the car and climbs in trying to get as little wet as possible. She starts the car and heads back to her small loft apartment. "So, what's your name?" Mary Margaret asks glancing over at the girl.

The girl looks at her for a good long moment before saying. "Emma."

'Emma' that name seemed so familiar to Mary Margaret but she just couldn't put her finger on it. "Well Emma, I guess you're stuck with me for a while, until we can get you back."

Emma scoffs "Back to what, it's not like I have anyone looking for me."

"Now I'm sure that's not true, your parents are probably worried sick about you."

"I highly doubt that." She says turning her head to look out the window.

For some reason Emma just felt like she wanted to tell this woman she just met her whole life story every little detail about her. This wasn't the first person to be nice to her, but this was the first person she ever felt like she wanted to tell everything to.

Emma just shrugs it off blaming it on the fact that she is tired. "So where do you live?" She asks Mary Margaret.

"Well," Mary Margaret starts as she puts the car into park and cutting the engine. "Right here." Emma looks out the window at the small apartment building. Mary Margaret was already getting out of the car so Emma grabs her bag and does the same.

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Once inside Mary Margaret's apartment, Emma looks around the room. "Um well, the bathroom is through that door there," Mary Margaret starts, motioning to a door by the kitchen. "This is my room." She motions to the bed to the left on the other side of a set of stairs. "Don't hesitate to come and wake me if you need anything." She says looking at Emma who still hadn't moved since they had walk into the apartment. "And you will be staying up stairs." Mary Margaret says as she starts up the stairs and Emma follows.

It wasn't what Emma was expecting. She was expecting boxes of junk thinking that the woman might have used the loft as a storage space, but oh no. There was a white wooden framed twin bed over in the left with pale pink bedding next to a window. A white wardrobe sat between the foot of the bed and the railing. There was a dresser in the same white wooden style as the bed standing even with the top of the stairs. A small white nightstand was right beside the head of the bed with a lamp and an alarm clock sitting on its surface. Over in the corner to the right was a full length oval shaped mirror. The stand is the same as the bed and dresser. And up against the right wall was an old timey writing desk with a small bookcase beside it. There was also a cork board and a medium sized rug close to the bed.

"Did you use to have a roommate or something?" Emma asked Mary Margaret as she walked around the loft.

"Nope." Mary Margaret replies shaking her head.

"Then why do you have a whole bedroom set up, up here?" Emma asks turning to face Mary Margaret only to see her cock her head to the side while she thinks.

"I don't know." She says obviously trying to remember a thought that just seems to evade capture. "Well I guess I'll leave you to get some rest. I'll be right down stairs if you need anything. Goodnight Emma."

"Night." Emma replies.

Once Mary Margaret returned back down stairs Emma quickly gets out of her wet clothes and into a dry pair of sweat pants and a dry t-shirt. She crawls into the bed and quickly drifts off to sleep.

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Emma didn't dream that night. Or at least that she knew of. She hardly ever remembered her dreams unless they were so extreme that she couldn't help but remember. Emma's eyes flutter open and she quickly shuts them again not use to the blinding light coming through the window.

Once her eyes had adjusted to the light she glances over at the alarm clock that tells her it's just a little after 9am. She pushes back the blankets and throws her feet over the side of the bed smelling the nice aroma of breakfast cooking. It was just then Emma's hunger really hit her. She gets up and starts descending the stairs and sees Mary Margaret in the kitchen making pancakes. Chocolate chip pancakes at that, Emma's favorite.

Mary Margaret turns to see Emma standing there at the base of the stairs. She smiles at her while sliding the last pancake out of the pan and onto a plate. "Good morning Emma. How did you sleep?" Mary Margaret asked rater chipper motioning Emma forward to one the plate of pancakes she sat down at the island counter.

"Um… I slept okay. Thanks." Emma replies sitting down in front of her breakfast.

"That's good. I hope you like chocolate chip pancakes." Mary Margaret says grabbing the orange juice out of the refrigerator and taking two glasses down from the cabinet.

"I love them!" She says taking a large fork full and placing it in her mouth. And boy were they good. Emma decided that they were the best chocolate chip pancakes she had tasted in a very long time.

After taking a few bites of her own pancakes and a sip of orange juice Mary Margaret begins. "So where are you from?"

Emma shrugs her shoulders.

"You don't know where you're from?" Mary Margaret asks giving Emma a look.

Emma sighs. "I know where I'm from, I just don't want you to know where I'm from." She says taking another bite of pancake.

It was Mary Margaret's turn to sigh. "Look Emma, the sheriff and I need to know where you are from so we can get you back-"

"Don't you think if I wanted to be there I would still be there? You don't know what it's like there. And trust me you don't want to know." Emma cuts in. Emma hadn't meant to snap at Mary Margaret, but she wasn't about to apologize for it.

Mary Margaret was slightly taken aback. She knew that there had to be a reason that this girl was out here in the middle of nowhere. She just hoped it wasn't what she feared. "All I meant is that you need to be back with your family because they probably miss you a lot."

"No they don't!" Emma spat back. "My parents abandon me on the side of a road right after I was born. They didn't even have the decency to leave me at a hospital. The only thing they left me was a blanket and a name. They don't miss me. Trust me."

Mary Margaret tried to process this. What kind of people would leave a new born on the side of the road? She couldn't imagine ever doing that to a child. It made her blood boil to even think that some people in the world could be that cruel. If she could get her hands on those people, she would cause them some real damage! "So who have you been living with?"

Emma sighs putting down her glass. "I've been in the foster system my whole life."

Emma took another bite of her pancakes as Mary Margaret spoke. "I'm sorry. That must be very hard for you, not knowing your parents."

"I won't lie to you, it was at first." She takes another sip of juice. "But now it really doesn't bother me. And please don't be sorry. It's not like it's your fault, you're not my mother."

With this said Emma stands from her stool. "Do you mind if I take a shower?"

"No, not at all." Mary Margaret replies with a shake of her head.

Emma gives her a small smile of gratitude before disappearing up the stairs to grab a change of clothes. She comes back down the stairs a minute later and disappears into the bathroom.

A few minutes later Mary Margaret gathers up the dirty dishes and begins to wash them. Her mind was full of everything that Emma had told her. She didn't want her to go back to the foster system. From what she had heard about it, it was a horrible place. She had heard about terrible things happening to some kids in the system and she could only imagine why Emma had run away.

Just then there was a loud knock on the door causing Mary Margaret to jump. Drying her hands on the dish towel she walks over to the door and opens is revealing Graham and the mayor of Storybrook, Regina Mills.

"Sheriff, Madam Mayor? What are you doing here?" She asks a bit shocked to see Regina Mills of all people standing in her doorway.

With a smirk Regina answers. "Well Ms. Blanchard the sheriff and I are here to pick up the child that you were so kind enough to take care of last night, so we can call Child Protective Services to come pick her up."

Mary Margaret furrows her eyebrows in slight confusion. "Well I don't think that will be necessary. I think all you need to do is call her social worker."

"You got her to talk? What did you find out about her?" Graham asks very curious of the answers.

"Um well she said she has grown up in the foster system all of her life and her name is Emma."

With the last four words Regina hoped that this child was not the same Emma that the prophecy predicted. Although she wasn't too scared because the child would be out of Storybrook soon, and the odds of this being the same Emma was very slim. But nevertheless she would make sure this 'Emma' would never come back to Storybrook and ruin her curse.

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**Well I hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading:)**

**I am going to try and have the next chapter up within the next two weeks. **


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